


Retribution | American Horror Story |

by Superumbra



Category: American Horror Story: Murder House
Genre: Angst, F/M, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:09:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25475164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Superumbra/pseuds/Superumbra
Summary: “N-no! That man, he wasn’t like us, he wasn’t like you, o-or me, or your mom or dad, or the maid. You aren’t just gonna be able to get rid of him as easily as you got rid of me.” She looked towards the bassinet. “You need help if you’re gonna do it right, yknow?”This story is a continuation of American Horror Story (AHS) season one, Murder House. If you haven't seen it yet obviously watch it before reading this book or you'll be confused.--Citrus rating: Orange - Lime (hugging, kissing, touching w/ a hint of sexuality, heavy making out, light groping, hinting or insinuation of sex)TRIGGER WARNING: If you are at all upset by any of the following topics I would strongly suggest you don't read this book: Suicide or mentions thereof, Self harm, cursing, mentions of death, gore, or any aspects of the citrus scale.
Relationships: Ben Harmon/Vivien Harmon, Violet Harmon/Tate Langdon
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	Retribution | American Horror Story |

**_~Violet’s POV, Wednesday, October 30th, 2013, 10:43 AM~_ **

**_~2 years after the end of Murder House~_ **

“Are you ready for tomorrow, Violet? Oh, it’s gonna be so good to get out of the house again,” Violet watched as her mother traced a single finger around the rim of her coffee mug. Violet had been anticipating this Halloween like no other, she was just about ready to pop from anticipation. Getting out of the confinement of the Murder House was an extremely rare luxury since she and her family’d passed away two years ago. She looked over at her mom with an excited expression. This was probably the most she’d felt alive in a while.

“If it doesn’t go like last Halloween then yeah,” Her mother seemed to be taken aback by the comment. Last Halloween was something none of the lost souls of the house liked to speak on. It was the year that some unknown force struck a cold, icy fear into the hearts of the home’s supernatural residents. An unspeakable force that resided solely around a man that’d walked by the house with his daughter, a man everyone simply called ‘Him’. The lousy name Violet had come up with was likely out of hasty thought, nobody really liked to think back on the man that gave the spectres fear for their very existence- even on the spiritual plane. Violet decided to confront the matter, though. “Don’t you ever feel like he’s gonna come back? I mean, a dude who scared even the most soulless ghosts here has to have a plan for us, right?” Her mother shook her head, taking a sip of her coffee that’d likely gone cold by now. 

“I like to not think back on him, honey. Whoever he is-- _was_ \--we don’t have to worry about him now. We haven’t seen him since.” That was always her response. A dismissive, entirely lousy response that irked Violet like no other. She wanted answers, not excuses.

“Well he’s gonna come back again, I can feel it. And this time I’m getting answers.” Violet hopped off of her stool that rested just in front of the bar that her and her mother had been perching at for about ten minutes now. That man made her feel like no one could, no one since the other ‘Him’ she never liked to address, not even within the prison cell walls she lovingly referred to as her mind. She devoutly believed that giving the troubled teen any thought would make him reappear right before her, a fate she absolutely did not want to succumb to. She knew looking into his deep, dark brown eyes would cause her to slip and forgive him after all this time. He was cunning in that way. The distant wails of an infant rung out through the house like a siren, Violet’s alert to quickly rush up the stairs and soothe her baby brother before the other spirits did it for her in a much less caring manner.

**_~Tate’s POV~_ **

He watched as Violet darted up the stairs, careful not to reveal his presence to her as his excitement grew. He knew exactly where she was going, to calm down her brother. These opportunities were always his favorite because it meant he got to see Violet in true solace, often for close to half an hour. He’d be allowed to sit there, just across the room from her as she rocked the child, a spectator of her caringness and love once more. These were emotions she never showed to Tate often anymore, any time she spotted him she’d give him a cold glare, sometimes even mouthing the phrase _“Go away”._ Tate walked up the stairs as swiftly, yet quietly, as he could. Upon reaching the climax of the stairs he continued to the master bedroom, swinging his head into the doorway, peeking to make sure she’d settled in with him. Once he was sure, he approached a seat across from the bed and sat himself down, intently watching Violet as she rhythmically rocked the child in her arms. The wailing stopped and, eventually, the child fell back into its deep slumber. She gently set the child back into its bassinet, then rested on the bedside for a few moments. 

“What the hell do you want, Tate?” His heart dropped, his hands clenching. He had no idea how she’d detected him, he was completely sure he’d remained entirely masked the entire time. 

“H-how’d… you know I was here?” She scoffed, now looking over to him directly. He gulped.

“You don’t think I can sense you every time you’re around me? After two years it kinda gets easy. I just don’t usually like to give you any attention.” He couldn’t see himself but he was entirely sure his complexion matched that of a sheet of paper. A slight sadness arose in his chest.

“Then why’d you give me attention this time?” She looked down, clearly incapable of giving an easy answer to the question. After a few moments of thought she looked back up resolutely. 

“Because you know what’s tomorrow. You’ve been on my mind like crazy since last Halloween. He’s gonna come back.” Tate, too, knew exactly who ‘He’ was. He had to admit he was equally as frightened by the man as Violet was herself, though he couldn’t put his finger on if it was out of instinctiveness to protect Violet or himself. After all he still cared for her safety just as much as he had two years ago, if not more. Before he could continue in his defense, Dr. Harmon rushed into the room. 

“Sorry I didn’t handle him sooner, Violet, I was in the middle of something--” His expression fell flat at the sight of Tate sitting across the room from where he stood. His hands rested on his hips. “Tate, why are you..” He gestured over to Violet. It wasn’t at all uncommon for Dr. Harmon and Tate to hang out every now and then, they frequently discussed emotions and life hardships over alcohol, though Tate and Violet in the same room was assumedly a shock to Dr. Harmon just as much as it was to Tate. The doctor cleared his throat.

“Just bothering me as usual, dad.. The baby is fine now, I got him back to sleep.” Violet's passive-aggressive attitude was beginning to throw Tate off. Dr. Harmon nodded, beginning to walk out of the room. 

“I’ll let you two uh.. Talk.” He closed the door behind him. Tate’s focus centered on Violet again. 

“Why are you bringing him up anyways? What’s so bad about a guy who just walks by the house every Halloween? He’s probably just trick-or-treating with his daughter or somethin’, don’t sweat it.” She returned his question with a scowl. 

“Because I’m getting to the bottom of who he is. Tomorrow night I’m gonna watch for him, and when I sense him I’m gonna go out there and see who he really is..” Tate shook his head. The last thing he wanted was for Violet to get wrapped up with any other issues she could get harmed in, especially since she was denying him of help or protection. 

“N-no! That man, he wasn’t like us, he wasn’t like you, o-or me, or your mom or dad, or the maid. You aren’t just gonna be able to get rid of him as easily as you got rid of me.” She looked towards the bassinet. “You need help if you’re gonna do it right, yknow?” 

“From _you?_ I’d rather deal with him myself, honestly,” Tate responded with a defeated huff. Violet was walling him out hard this time, it was shocking she even still held this much of a grudge against him after two years. 

“And what if he’s a bad man, Violet? What if he threatens us like nobody we’ve ever met before? What if he hurts you?” She looked like she could nearly pop now.

“I don’t _NEED_ your help, Tate!” The baby began stirring again, prompting her to quickly rock the bassinet to settle him down. The room was swarmed with a cold, icy silence. “If I needed your help I would’ve asked for you to come back, and I didn’t.” Tate felt his mind contort with an array of emotions, spanning from grief to pure anger. 

“You’re lying, Violet. I wouldn’t have appeared to you if you hadn’t been looking for my specific energy around you. You were thinking of me.” She’d fallen silent now. Tate watched as she wiped tears away from her eyes. She got up, storming out of the room. “Violet? Violet!” Tate had begun approaching the door himself now. He stopped. What was the point? If he chased her out into the hall she’d likely just tell him to go away again and it’d make matters worse. At least she was seeing him, that was a step in the right direction.


End file.
